Neighbors fear historic square will go to dogs

After decades fighting gangs, graffiti and the city's neglect, homeowners on historic Palmer Square are bracing themselves against a new threat: a tot lot and accompanying dog-run.

They know what people think: How could anyone oppose playground equipment for little children, and room for dogs to roam?

But for members of the Homeowners Association of Palmer Square, the 10-acre parcel of land two blocks south of Fullerton Avenue is not a blank slate waiting for development.

The group worries that a city plan to install these features will ruin Palmer Square's character and purpose, breaking its plain with high fences and garish islands of equipment. Historic preservationists fear that it will set a precedent for carving up the city's renowned boulevard system.

In response, Ald. Rey Colon (35th) has scheduled a public meeting for 6:30 p.m. Monday in Schwinn Hall at St. Sylvester Catholic School, 3027 W. Palmer Blvd.--a potentially tense showdown among old-guard homeowners, newcomers who welcome the changes, city officials and preservationists.

Steve Hier moved into the Palmer Square area 26 years ago, when its Victorian splendor had been reduced to broken glass, buckled sidewalks, graffiti-sprayed benches and mutilated trees.

He lay awake at night, listening to warring gangs exchange gunfire in the square, asking himself, "What have I done?"

Instead of giving up, he organized neighbors to seed new grass on the city-owned plot.

With their own money, they nursed sick elms back to health and planted hundreds of bare-root saplings. They repaired broken benches, painted chipped lampposts and spread truckloads of topsoil to even the battered turf.

They were determined to return it to its status as a jewel in Chicago's historic 28-mile boulevard system, the "Emerald Necklace" of green space envisioned by 19th Century architectural giants including Frederick Law Olmsted, Daniel Burnham and William Le Baron Jenney.

As unique to Chicago as Central Park is to New York, the European-inspired boulevard system was designed in 1870 to be a continuous greenway, encircling the city with 21 boulevard segments, six squares and seven regional parks.

The square itself was never meant to be subdivided for games and recreation, historic preservationists insist, but to remain a tranquil open space.

"Certainly you wouldn't drop a playground in the middle of the Washington Mall," said Ward Miller, vice president of Logan Square Preservation, who has two children and two dogs, but described the new plan as "harebrained."

The tot lot and dog-run controversy highlights the competition for scarce open space as neighborhoods change and land values rise.

Palmer Square was laid out in the 1890s, and by 1915, it was surrounded by decorative brick two- and three-flats, Edwardian houses and Prairie-style mansions. Ignaz Schwinn, the bicycle builder, lived on the square before giving his land to St. Sylvester's for a school.

Originally built up by Scandinavian and German immigrants, Palmer Square and the surrounding neighborhood became flavored by arrivals from Poland, and later, Hispanic residents, who are now a majority.

Today the area is changing again, as gentrification brings in a new crop of condominiums, and with them, residents of different ages and ethnicities.

Densely built Logan Square, the larger neighborhood surrounding Palmer Square, has less open space than any other city neighborhood except South Lawndale. Most of its open space is along its wide, tree-lined boulevards. Acreage for recreational parks and ball fields is well below the city's minimum standard of 2 acres of open space per 1,000 residents. Logan Square needs 99 more acres of public open space to meet that goal, according to the city.

City planning officials say they do not intend to desecrate the boulevards. They say they are merely following through with the Logan Square Open Space Plan that was drafted in 2003 after a yearlong series of community forums and adopted by the city Planning Commission in July.

Kathy Dickhut, assistant commissioner at the city Department of Planning and Development, said the city heard from a broad range of interests, including families with small children and dog lovers, at last year's brainstorming sessions.

"There's no reason for everyone to be, `Oh God, they're going to force this on us,'" Dickhut said, pointing out that the tot lot and dog-run are preliminary proposals. She said members of homeowners associations are "going to be part of the process, but they are not the rulers of that space because they live across the street."

Hier said his homeowners group, however, never heard about those forums.

"How can you make plans for me, that don't include me?" he said.

In addition to $450,000 the city has already set aside for improvements, planners are seeking grants from the state Department of Natural Resources and the Prince Charitable Trusts, a private foundation that supports the enhancement and preservation of open space.